September 27, 2022
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Idea Grove

We help B2B technology and e-commerce companies Grow With TRUST, turning skeptical prospects into true believers at a time when brand credibility is at a premium. Our unified, trust-centered approach to Brand Strategy, Public Relations, Web Design, Content Marketing and HubSpot Consulting creates durable brands that can succeed across economic cycles and during periods of rapid change.


Advertising
Idea Grove Offers a Complete Guide to Email Subject Lines That Work!
Idea Grove Posted On May 24, 2022


When someone knocks on your door unexpectedly, you probably won’t just open it. You’ll look through the peephole first.

If your visitor is holding a UPS package, wearing a Cub Scout uniform or otherwise seems legit, you’ll probably open the door. If they look sketchy or like they are soliciting despite the “no soliciting” sign in your front yard, you probably won’t.

And so it is with email subject lines. If your subject line seems intriguing, relevant and legitimate, the recipient will open your email. If it’s boring, random or sketchy, they won’t.

And because an email marketing strategy can only be successful if people actually open your email, you could argue that a good subject line is the key to an email campaign’s success.

Understanding Subject Lines And Preheaders

inbox

The subject of an email is the single line of text representing your email that your recipient sees when they receive your email. Most people spend only a fraction of a second reviewing email subject lines to filter out irrelevant messages. They will go on to the next message if the subject line doesn’t immediately grab their attention.

When viewing an email in your inbox, the email preheader is the summary text that appears after the subject line. People often use it as a one-sentence overview of the email’s main point.

Think of the subject line and preheader as similar in function to an article’s headline and subheadline. You must use these tools to entice the reader to click and start reading, or your links and other content will head to the trash. It’s best to balance being informative and engaging when crafting a subject line for an email.

What Makes A Good Email Subject Line?

The best subject lines are usually personal or descriptive. They give readers a reason to click through to your piece of content. Whatever approach you take, it’s critical to keep your audience in mind. Test various terms and phrases to see which ones they favor.

Your email subject line should include the following elements:

  • Urgency. People are more likely to act if given a sense of urgency. Viewers checking their inboxes are more likely to click on a special deal or promotion if they know it’s for a limited time. 
  • Curiosity. A cleverly written subject line can introduce an element of mystery to pique the recipient’s curiosity. It will make them open the email to learn more.
  • Offers. People enjoy experimenting with new products and activities, especially if a special offer means there is little risk.
  • Personalization. People enjoy when emails are personalized to their interests and needs—as long as you’re not creepy about it. 
  • Relevance. Using trending topics in your subject lines can help establish your business as an authority in your industry. They also persuade readers to read on and subscribe to your mailing lists.

10 Tips For Creating Clickworthy Email Subject Lines

full email inbox

Cutting through the email clutter and attracting clicks is difficult. But you can become the inbox hero if you follow these guidelines.

  1. Cut it down. If readers can’t see your subject line, what’s the point? Your subject line should be fewer than 40 characters or eight words long. 
  2. Avoid spammy keywords. Blatantly promotional subject lines, such as “guarantee,” “save $” and “buy now” are often classified as spam. Here’s a list of 394 email spam words to avoid. 
  3. Give an update. Keeping your audience informed about company news and new products is a great strategy for increasing open email rates and customer engagement. 
  4. Add social proof. When making a buying decision, people often look at the actions of others. Include success stories and customer testimonials in the subject line of your emails.
  5. Make your email topic funny. With the right tone for your brand, puns and wordplay can be a fun way to catch your audience’s attention and make them laugh—and click.
  6. Make your company stand out. Choose a subject line that emphasizes one of your company’s unique selling points. Many individuals will read emails based solely on the sender, so take advantage of the opportunity to reinforce your brand.
  7. Add a deadline to the subject line. Using a deadline can help create a sense of urgency in your readers, causing them to give your email more attention. Send out the first announcement to let readers know when something is coming up. As the deadline approaches, send a “last chance” email to remind customers of the opportunity.
  8. Add recipient names. Research shows adding the recipient’s first name in the subject line results in a better click-through rate.
  9. Cut out the filler words. Don’t waste valuable space with needless words like “hello” and “thanks,” which you can add to the email body.
  10. Start with the most important words. People open more than half of all emails on a smartphone, which sometimes displays as few as 25 characters of a subject line. So make sure to start with the most important words if your subject line gets cut off. 

5 Common Types Of Subject Lines With Examples

Introductory Email Subject Line

The ideal introductory email is short and direct. Examples include:

  • X product is here. Get yours now!
  • (Name here), how can I help you with (insert problem)?
  • Looking for a better way to (details here)? Let’s talk!

Value Proposition Email Subject Lines

The best sales email subject lines capture the reader’s imagination and lead into your value proposition without being heavy-handed. Examples include:

  • Your hair care routine is missing something.
  • Hey! Our [product/service] has your name all over it.
  • How happy are you with [company name] ‘s project management tool?

Sales Follow Up Email Subject Lines

When writing a sales follow-up, make sure the subject line grabs your recipient’s attention with a personal touch. Examples include:

  • Are you ready to continue our chat, (first name of recipient)?
  • I haven’t heard back from you, (first name).
  • It was great seeing you at [event you both attended], (name)!

Offer/Event Reminder Subject Lines

A well-crafted, well-timed reminder email can earn clicks you would otherwise miss.

  • Few stocks left at this flash sale.
  • 3 things you need to bring to (event name).
  • Are you joining us tomorrow at (event name)?

Thank You Email Subject Lines

Thank you emails are a terrific approach to establish brand loyalty and keep customers coming back to your site. Examples include:

  • Thanks for your purchase!
  • Wow! Thanks for the referral!
  • Thank you for signing up!

4 Email Subject Line Best Practices

Confident male designer working on a digital tablet in red creative office space

  1. Know your audience. The most important part of your email marketing plan is building an email database that is carefully segmented based on subscribers’ interests, aspirations and needs. Instead of sending one generic email with the same subject line to all subscribers, segmenting enables you to better target and personalize your message. Studies prove that segmenting your email list increases open and click-through rates while lowering unsubscribe rates.
  2. Use engaging preview text. It’s essential to pay attention to the preview text even though it’s not technically part of your subject line. You can give your email subscribers a taste of what’s coming using preview text. By default, email clients use the body text as the preview text unless you show otherwise. Depending on the content of your email, this can look untidy, and it’s a missed opportunity to connect with your readers.
  3. Call to action. The best approach to persuade subscribers to do what you want is to ask them. Take the following example, “Click here to take advantage of this subscription offer.” Before they even open your email, subject lines like these let them know what the message’s goal is. So, subscribers on your email list interested in your offer will probably open your emails.
  4. Run A/B tests on your subject lines. A/B testing your subject line is the most effective approach to discover what resonates with your audience. Using A/B testing for emails, you can learn what makes people click on your emails and use that information to make improvements.

Many email marketers write the subject line of their emails last, as if they are an afterthought. A better way to prioritize your subject lines is to write them first. Writing a clickable subject line can carry over into your copywriting of the email’s body—ensuring your email content is focused, on point, and earning clicks to your website.

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Advertising  / Thought Blogs
Idea Grove’s Scott Baradell Weighs in on The Rise of a New Era of Reputation Management | Part 1
Idea Grove Posted On December 29, 2021


Note: Referencing The Richards Group, first of two parts

Headquartered in Dallas, The Richards Group has long been one of the most successful advertising agencies in the United States. Founded in 1976 by Stan Richards, the firm is known for its Chick-fil-A “Eat Mor Chikin” and Motel 6 “We’ll Leave the Light On for You” campaigns, and has boasted other notable client brands, such as The Home Depot, Fruit of the Loom and The Salvation Army.

At age 88, Stan was still running the place in late 2020, always having final say on campaign decisions. That changed in an instant, however, after comments he made during a Zoom meeting with 40 employees. His creative team was presenting a new campaign idea for Motel 6, which would feature an assortment of Black, white and Hispanic guests. Stan’s immediate and blunt assessment was: 

“It’s too Black.”

He then went on to say the ad would offend the motel chain’s “white supremacist” guests.

The next day, Stan apologized over Zoom to more than a hundred of his employees after word spread of his comments. It was too late though—the damage was done.

Too Little, Too Late for Stan Richards

Someone within The Richards Group leaked a recording of the founder’s remarks to Motel 6, Ad Age and the Dallas Morning News. Motel 6 immediately put out a statement announcing it had fired the firm; The Home Depot, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Cracker Barrel and others followed. 

The Richards Group issued a public statement of apology, but it did little to stem the exodus. The agency lost 40% of its business in a week.

Shocked by the sudden “cancellation,” Stan had no choice but to step down.

It would be easy to dismiss the Stan Richards episode as a case of “Mad Men Meets Cancel Culture.” After all, Stan started in advertising in the 1950s—a time when dinosaurs like the dashing, entitled Don Draper still roamed the earth.

But there’s more going on here. And it says more about the PR challenges we face in 2021 than it does about the advertising business.

The New Era of Reputation Minefields

I moved to Dallas in 1989 for a newspaper reporting job. Over the years, I held positions at three of the city’s largest media organizations, the last being communications officer for the company that owned the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas/Fort Worth ABC affiliate.

I’ve gotten to know the media, and particularly the Dallas media, pretty well over the past three decades. And I can tell you with a high degree of certainty the following:

Ten years ago,

  • Motel 6 would have considered Stan’s words “unfortunate,” but not felt the pressure to instantly scrap its 34-year relationship with the agency.
  • The Ad Age story would not have been “RICHARDS GROUP FIRED BY MOTEL 6 OVER RACIST REMARK BY AGENCY FOUNDER,” but rather a shorter article referring to Stan’s remarks as “controversial” rather than “racist.”
  • The Dallas Morning News would have led their story with Stan Richards’ refutation of the charges, rather than the charges themselves.  

Twenty years ago, the story probably would not have been covered at all. From a reputation management standpoint, it would have been an embarrassing bump in the road at worst—not an existential crisis.

Five Key Shifts in the Reputation Landscape

So, what’s different today that cost one of the country’s foremost brand-builders his job—and almost his agency?

Today’s reputation management landscape has shifted in five important ways over the past 10 years. Unfortunately for Stan and the Richards Group, they found themselves on the wrong end of each of these changes.

Let’s dive into each of these shifts.

Shift No. 1

Employees are activists within their own organizations, holding them publicly accountable for their stated values.

This is how Stan’s statements became public in the first place. Employees objected to Stan’s remarks and shared them outside the organization, perhaps knowing full well the damage they might do. This suggests that there were larger issues within the agency as it relates to DEI.

Whoever leaked Stan’s remarks had likely reached their breaking point.

It’s no secret that many within The Richards Group and the larger Dallas advertising community considered the agency behind the times on any number of issues, including what some characterized as a “stunning lack of diversity.” It has long had a reputation for being “stuffy.”

When my late wife Cathy worked in PR at The Richards Group in the early 2000s, she never felt like she fit in there. She thought the agency had a “type” it sought in its female account executives—and that she didn’t dress, look or act the way she was expected to.

It’s why she begged me late one night to support her in her decision to resign from the agency. I had just left my last corporate job and we had no other source of income as I prepared to start Idea Grove, but I couldn’t give my blessing fast enough when the tears began to roll down her cheeks.

That was 2005. This in 2021. When people don’t feel seen, heard or represented within their organizations today, they won’t hesitate to share their “truth“—whether on Glassdoor or by leaking information to a client, on social media, or to Ad Age. 

Shift No. 2

Brands realize they can no longer wait out controversies and must take decisive stands on issues quickly.

This is why Motel 6 and others knew they had to cut ties immediately rather than investigate the situation themselves or take a more deliberative approach. Believe me, this is not the way corporations—particularly large ones—like to make decisions.

Anyone who’s worked at a big corporation knows how slowly the wheels often turn on even the smallest decisions. Do you think Motel 6 would so abruptly end a three-decade-long relationship if not for fear that it might face PR repercussions itself for any delay? Today, when brands don’t react immediately to actions or remarks that their audiences consider offensive, they are viewed as being insensitive or even complicit in the offense.

Take the case of James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks, New York Rangers and Madison Square Garden. Pressed to comment on the death of George Floyd, Dolan wrote to employees, “We are not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters. What’s important is how we operate.” The media obtained the Dolan missive and published parts of it. Some employees, including Knicks players, were reportedly “furious” with Dolan’s refusal to issue a statement about Floyd or public support for protests.

The next day, Dolan attempted damage control, issuing another internal message that was leaked, before finally issuing a statement that condemned the Floyd killing. By then, the damage to Dolan’s reputation was done.

Shift No. 3

Traditional public statements are routinely dismissed as inauthentic and too little, too late.

Public statements, like those the Richards Group initially put out, generally fall on deaf ears if they are read at all today. They are so carefully crafted that the public simply assumes they are insincere. (Perhaps that’s why  Thesaurus.com considers “strategic” an antonym of “honest.”)

And let’s be blunt: Stan’s apology was insincere. He called his misstep the “biggest mistake of my life” and said “all I can say is I was wrong” in The Richards Group’s press release. But what he really thought was expressed in his interview with Glenn Hunter at Texas Monthly, which he gave to Hunter the same day the press release went out.

He told Hunter of his “it’s too Black” comment:

On reflection, instead of using those three words, I could have said something that was much more clouded in its meaning. And it would have saved an awful lot of trouble … Because mine was not a racist comment. I’ve never been a racist anytime in my life. But it was read that way and, unfortunately, it has proved very costly.

So what Stan actually thought is that the incident that almost destroyed his agency was much ado about nothing. He thought that he had not made a racist comment at all, and that if he had simply obfuscated his point with more politically correct language, none of this would have happened.

That’s why people look to Twitter discussions, Glassdoor reviews, media reports or almost any source other than public statements when it comes to public controversies today. 

Shift No. 4

Mainstream news outlets are more likely to use terms like “racist” and “lying” to describe people’s words and actions than in the past.

Traditionally, the mainstream news media—particularly daily newspapers and other outlets seeking to claim a mantle of objectivity—have hesitated to use judgmental terms in describing the people they cover. They would leave it to those on each side of an issue to characterize their opponents. 

This approach has increasingly seemed disingenuous to critics, who label it “he said, she said” journalism designed not to offend rather than to enlighten audiences.

So in the past, for example, a headline about the Stan Richards controversy might have read that Stan was “accused” of a racist remark, rather than simply stating as fact that his remark was racist, as Ad Age’s stories (and most of the other coverage) have done.

That’s a big difference. It’s a sea change that began in earnest with Donald Trump’s run for the presidency in 2016. Whether to call Trump’s misstatements and his racially charged statements were a subject of enormous controversy during the campaign. Ultimately, most major media outlets have begun using these terms to characterize the words and behavior of Trump and others—including Stan Richards, in this case.

Shift No. 5

Mainstream news outlets have a more limited role in gatekeeping the news and shaping narratives for the public.

If you’ve seen the excellent film The Post (No. 8 on this list), you have a good idea of what much of journalism used to be like. There were not just gatekeepers, but layers of gatekeepers. 

Let’s say I work for DoorDash and I want the public to know that your food might arrive cold if you don’t include a tip. Today I can post a video on TikTok and the world knows. Before social media, the DoorDash employee would have to call their local news station or newspaper and hope they would take an interest.

Then, if a reporter did like the story, they would pitch it to their editor, who might kill it for any number of reasons. Finally, the publisher might kill a story (as Katharine Graham was lobbied to do in The Post) because it’s about a friend, or it would be bad for the local business community, or because DoorDash is an advertiser in the paper.

Today, there’s no one at the Dallas Morning News who can say, “I’ve known Stan Richards for 30 years and I know he’s no racist. This is not a story.” Because that gatekeeper no longers decides what’s a story and what isn’t.

Time for Brands to Adapt or Die

What should we make of these changes and how should we respond to the new challenges that come with them?

To The Richard Group’s credit, they have done an admirable job of responding to this existential crisis for their agency. By last summer they were earning kudos from Adweek for the changes they had made to their internal culture, and were speaking on “Forging a New, Inclusive Path Forward” in an event for the Public Relations Society of America’s Dallas chapter.

And the clients have been returning.

So, what can we learn from Stan Richards’ painful experience to help us better build, grow and protect our own brands? We’ll discuss that in Part 2.

 

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Marketing  / Public Relations
Idea Grove CEO Scott Baradell Asks What Does Your Company’s Brand Say About It?
Idea Grove Posted On November 22, 2021


by Scott Baradell

As Jeff Bezos once said, “A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person.” Branding is all about personification—giving human traits to a brand.

If you think about it, Nike, Disney, or any other corporation is nothing more than a set of documents filed by a lawyer somewhere. They are legal entities created specifically so that their activities are considered separate from those of the people who formed them (for liability, tax, and other reasons).

The U.S. Supreme Court has awarded corporations the rights and protections of personhood in many respects. But a stack of legal papers can’t make decisions, or have a personality, or do anything but sit there. And we’ve established that the corporation is distinct from the people who created it or who run it; they can leave the company at any time. The only thing that really holds a corporation together is its shareholders—and they’re here today and gone tomorrow as well.

So what is a brand, really? The answer to this question is up to you as a marketer or business leader. The meaning—the “humanity”—of your brand can go as deep as you’re willing to take it.

BRANDS CREATE CONTINUITY
Let me explain. Whenever a shareholder sells his or her stock in a company, the buyer usually has certain expectations of continuity. And the people the shareholders entrust to run the company are expected to maintain (and increase) the company’s value by meeting these expectations—not only in terms of sheer dollars and cents, but by having a predictable business model that shareholders can count on for the long-term.

And that’s where branding comes in. Branding communicates the continuity of a company’s business model. It says, “This is the kind of person we are—if we were actually a person.”

So Disney is family-oriented, fun, and magical. Nike is active, bold, and inspirational. And so on and so on. To the extent that a company’s products, advertising, and other projections of itself support these traits, the brand has continuity—which over time can become a company’s most valuable asset.

In this sense, a brand is like your reputation or mine.

STAKEHOLDER CAPITALISM AND SOCIAL PURPOSE
Despite the best efforts of brands to humanize themselves, however, the truth is that corporations have traditionally been self-centered. They have been created to serve the interests of their shareholders—their owners—and often only those interests.

This approach is called “shareholder capitalism,” and it has held sway with U.S. businesses and economists for the bulk of the past century.

That’s why the emergence of an alternative to shareholder capitalism—what’s known as “stakeholder capitalism”—has been so remarkable over the past several years. Stakeholder capitalism argues that corporations must serve all their constituencies—customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and communities—with the goal of creating long-term value rather than maximizing profits.

Many of today’s consumers expect the corporations they buy from to do more than sell products. They want them to have a social purpose—a reason to exist beyond making money. They want them to share and represent their values. Corporations that avoid these broader responsibilities increasingly limit their long-term growth prospects, while setting their brands up for social media backlash and other negative consequences.

It’s a sign of the times that in 2019, 181 CEOs signed the Business Roundtable’s “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation” and officially committed to leading their companies “for the benefit of all stakeholders.” As IndustryWeek put it: “It’s a sea change that moves companies away from the age-old philosophy that companies’ main goal is to look after shareholders.”

WHY DOES YOUR BRAND EXIST?
Today, when my agency conducts brand strategy sessions with our clients, we don’t simply ask them what their brand does well. We don’t start with features and benefits. We go beyond brand essence, brand promise, and brand personality. We go beyond product differentiation and messaging, too.

We start by asking our clients why their brand exists. We ask how they make the world a better place. And we help them find answers when they need our help.

Before you embark on brand strategizing, ask yourself these questions about your company’s brand, and carefully consider your answers.

The corporations that will be most successful in the new era of stakeholder capitalism are those that align their brand strategy with the interests of all their stakeholders—not just the ones who buy stock in the company.

Scott Baradell is CEO of Idea Grove, a unified PR and marketing agency, and editor of the online publication Trust Signals.

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Advertising  / Public Relations
Punching Up Part 2: Idea Grove’s CEO Scott Baradell Reflects on Ben & Jerry’s David & Goliath Battle
Idea Grove Posted On March 17, 2021


Note: This is the second in a four-part series from Idea Grove‘s CEO Scott Baradell, on competing successfully with larger competitors by “punching up.”)

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream is a household name. Their colorful pints with oddly named flavors — such as Cherry Garcia, Chubby Hubby, and Half Baked — fill the frozen dessert aisle of every grocery store across America. Their success is no accident.

Since the beginning, they understood their position in the market and how a distinct, consistent message could elevate them against larger competitors. Most importantly, they knew that ice cream is supposed to be fun. While more established brands were conservatively touting “homemade” as a selling point (whatever that means), Ben & Jerry’s was having a good time and sharing those good vibes with their enthusiastic customers.

$12,000 and an Old Gas Station

The origin of Ben & Jerry’s is so quaint, it almost feels like something out of a Hallmark movie. Ben & Jerry’s is named after, as you would imagine, a man named Ben and a man named Jerry. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were childhood friends. They wanted to start a business together. Originally, they considered bagels, but the equipment was too expensive. So instead, they decided on ice cream. In 1977, they completed a correspondence course on how to make ice cream. A year later, with only $12,000, they opened an ice cream parlor in an old gas station.

It was a rocky road (pun intended) for the fledgling company. As they mention in their memoir Ben & Jerry’s Double-Dip, published in 1997 by Simon & Schuster: “Our portion control was out of control; we were hiring our friends and then agonizing over supervising them; our financial records were usually located in the back pocket of Ben’s jeans. We were having fun, but we weren’t exactly mastering the art of retailing.”

Despite all those challenges, their ice cream grew in popularity across New England. But with their success, they gained the unwanted attention of larger competitors. By the mid 1980s, Häagen-Dazs tried to keep them out of stores. The ice cream giant allegedly told distributors to cease dealing with Ben & Jerry’s as a condition for continuing business with Häagen-Dazs.

Ben & Jerry’s decided to sue Häagen-Dazs, which at the time was owned by Pillsbury, for “restraint of trade” under federal antitrust law. Ben & Jerry’s lawyer told them it was a no-win situation to take a larger corporation to court. The Federal Trade Commission would not act on their behalf, and Ben & Jerry’s money would inevitably run out before Pillsbury’s money would. (At the time, Pillsbury was worth over $4 billion.) Cohen and Greenfield decided to leverage media pressure to help their cause.

What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of?

Ben & Jerry’s began printing the phrase “What’s the Doughboy Afraid Of?” on all their ice cream packaging, along with a 1-800 number. Customers who called the number received addressed letters, statements of support for Ben & Jerry’s, which they could send to the Federal Trade Commission and the Pillsbury chairman—along with a bumper sticker.

Ben & Jerry’s also used low-cost advertising and guerrilla marketing efforts. They posted a classified ad in Rolling Stone magazine and purchased bus signs depicting the hands of the Pillsbury’s Doughboy literally strangling a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. The messaging was over-the-top and mysterious, prompting more people to call the 1-800 number. They organized a one-person protest outside the Pillsbury corporate headquarters, and even held a press conference where only one reporter showed up. All of it was designed to highlight their underdog status.

It was an audacious maneuver—“trolling” before trolling was even a thing. However, the campaign got the attention of national media outlets. In 1985, the New Yorker wrote a feature article about the David and Goliath battle between the two companies.

While Ben & Jerry’s seemed like an underdog, in hindsight, it’s clear to see that Pillsbury didn’t stand a chance against these tactics. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Häagen-Dazs backed off from its efforts to restrict distribution of their puckish competitor.

Four Lessons on Punching Up

The Pillsbury legal battle is one example of a fledgling Ben & Jerry’s taking on the competition. However, it’s indicative of the overall fighting spirit that this brand has always had. Here are a few learnable lessons on how they’ve succeeded in a well-established marketplace.

Lesson 1: Understand the value of “free”

To celebrate their first year as a business, Ben & Jerry’s held a “Free Cone Day” to thank their customers. Now, it’s an annual event, held between late March and early May, at all 615 store locations. The marketing event has been wildly successful for Ben & Jerry’s, creating a community of fans.

The important thing to understand is they aren’t simply giving away free ice cream without a plan in place. The cones are smaller than usual, almost sample size. They aren’t risking bankruptcy from free ice cream. However, “free” still has allure when it’s offered in conjunction with a lively shared experience. Free Cone Day takes on the significance of a federal holiday. Fans anticipate the next year and the next, sharing their enthusiasm with friends on social media.

Does your company have its own holiday? In 2002, 7-Eleven took a cue from Ben & Jerry’s with Free Slurpee Day on—of course—July 11. Boston Market celebrates National Rotisserie Chicken Day on June 2. The direct sales cookware company Saladmaster has 316 Day on March 16. They celebrate the 316Ti Stainless Steel used in their cookware. And on August 5, 2003, underwear retailer Freshpair created National Underwear Day.

It’s not enough to pick a day on the calendar. Your brand needs to take that opportunity to go big and earn your audience’s attention. Few things turn heads quite like “free.”

Lesson 2: Whimsy can be good for your brand

When did marketing directors decide that whimsy was universally a bad thing? Everyone seemingly decided that brands should only be taken seriously and respected. As a result, every marketing campaign feels overly traditional and sentimental. Is it any wonder that “child finally goes off to college” is the default plot for so many commercials? Even ice cream takes itself way too seriously — where every bowl is eaten on a back porch of grandma’s house, obviously, right before your child finally goes off to college. The spoon is held by a responsible adult who looks off thoughtfully into the distance. It’s boring.

In contrast, Ben & Jerry’s is fun. The ice cream names are all pop culture references and bad puns. This is not back porch ice cream; think dorm room instead. The brand skews toward that kid shipped off to college. It’s more Rolling Stone than Reader’s Digest, more indie rock than adult contemporary.

This whimsical disposition goes beyond the packaging and the advertising. At their corporate office, they have an actual graveyard where they bury the ice cream flavors that failed. There is also a tree house and slide in the building. Employees are allowed to bring dogs to work.

Does your company take itself too seriously? Maybe it’s time to consider a little levity in your operations. It’s not just about being funny — as jokes can hit or miss. Instead, you focus on ways to humanize your operations with personal touches that show you aren’t afraid to be playful and enjoy your work.

Lesson 3: Celebrate your activism

Of all the lessons, this is one that most companies will probably ignore. And for good reason! It’s not easy to be actively engaged with social justice. Companies fear the possibility of backlash from “being political.” Ben & Jerry’s certainly has received its fair share. Their liberal stance is well known and helps the brand earn a lot of PR. Yet, people are still buying the ice cream.

Ben & Jerry’s has participated in numerous partnerships with the World Wide Fund for Nature and other non-profits. They created a limited-edition ice cream flavor (“Bernie’s Yearning”) in support of Bernie Sanders’s campaign for president in 2016. Also in 2016, the founders were arrested during a Washington D.C. protest. In 2017, as part of a protest against Australia’s stance against gay marriage, the company decided they would not serve two scoops of the same ice cream flavor to customers, but only in that country. In June of 2020, Ben & Jerry’s announced they were joining a boycott against Facebook and Instagram as part of the #StopHateForProfit campaign.

How is Ben & Jerry’s able to do this in a way that positively promotes their brand?

In part, they are utterly shameless about what they believe in. There is no equivocating or apologizing. Even if you don’t agree with the causes, people can respect the convictions. The company does tend to focus on the “safer” social issues. Marriage equality is largely supported in America, and the company has been outspoken about it. However, on more fraught issues, such as abortion, they tend to stay silent. In general, the issues that receive the most support are ones that celebrate people and optimism. For example, while Chick-Fil-A’s Christian outlook is largely viewed as a positive, donations to controversial “gay conversion” camps have not been as well received by the public.

Does your company get involved in social issues? We’re not talking about writing a check, but truly leveraging your unique authority. When it comes to activism, your company shouldn’t stand by anything that your executive team cannot speak on with some insight. Also, make sure to assess your company’s culture. The employees of Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s skew more liberal, but that many not be true for your company. Focus on an issue that extols a positive virtue, instead of being against something or someone else. If you aren’t as daring as Ben & Jerry’s (who is?), consider generally safe issues, such as supporting libraries and literacy programs, no-kill animal shelters, or creating economic opportunities to improve communities.

Lesson 4: Taking a chance isn’t the same as taking a risk

When looking at Ben & Jerry’s history, you may think they took a lot of risks that ultimately paid off. Truly, most entrepreneurs enjoy taking risks, and may get bored once an organization has stabilized and matured. However, while Ben & Jerry’s often takes chances, they aren’t as risky as one might think. The distinction is an important one.

For example, the cheap shots they took during the Pillsbury lawsuit weren’t that risky, especially as the underdog. It certainly was less risky than doing nothing and hoping their money would outlast Pillsbury’s. Ben & Jerry’s was taking a chance, but it wasn’t risky. All those crazy titles for their flavors? Not that risky. Concepts fail all the time. That’s the cost of doing business. If anything, it enabled them to better test what works and what doesn’t. Even their social activism isn’t that risky, when considering their young target audience.

Your company shouldn’t take needless risks. But once you’ve done your research and created a plan, every company could stand to take some chances. You can learn from the missteps and grow from the successes. With a sincere enthusiasm for trying new ideas, such success is never an accident.

Next up: Home Depot


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Advertising  / Public Relations
Punching Up: Idea Grove’s Scott Baradel Tells How to Compete With Market-Leading Companies As A PR Underdog
Idea Grove Posted On March 11, 2021


This is the first in a series of stories on how midsize companies can earn a share of the spotlight against larger competitors — by “punching up” with smarts, authenticity and resourcefulness.

Since my agency mostly serves mid-market technology companies, one of the most frequent refrains I hear on discovery calls with prospects is as follows: “We have a great product, but Company XXL sucks up all the media attention in our space. We just want to get our share of coverage, but it’s always Company XXL in every story.”

This is often followed by: “We need you to make us seem bigger than we are. Can you do that?” My answer to that question is always the same: “We can’t make you bigger than you are, but we can level the playing field so people don’t care that you’re smaller.”

Winning The PR Battle

Market-leading companies often have a lot of money to spend. That money results in a lot of awareness, and awareness often breeds press coverage. But that doesn’t mean the 800-pound gorilla is invincible.

Here are five things you can do internally to become more appealing to industry media:

  1. Be original. It’s vital to have something original to say. The press doesn’t want to talk to a mimic, so develop a story with a fresh point of view that aligns with your expertise and experience. Your expertise should tie to the product you manufacture and the business problems your company solves. For example, my agency had a longtime client in the outplacement space, helping companies experiencing layoffs to find jobs for their displaced employees. The client discovered that some HR departments were also wanting to offer outplacement services to the spouses of new hires who had relocated. We began promoting “spousal outplacement” as a recruiting benefit, and our client was covered widely in HR and business publications for highlighting this new trend. Keep your ear to the ground. Read and watch the news. Then connect the dots to your business.
  2. Be specific. Most journalists have to be generalists as part of their jobs. They ask around and conduct searches on Google, LinkedIn and elsewhere to find experts with the specific expertise to speak on topics they need to cover every day. So, once you’ve established your niche, tie those keywords to your online presence to make sure your name surfaces in the media’s research. Another differentiator to consider when you’re identifying your areas of expertise is industries your clients are in. Are your clients concentrated in specific industries? If so, then you should showcase your expertise in that sector.
  3. Be authoritative. Your experience is rooted in your resume and the resumes of your subject matter experts, or SMEs. Your SMEs might include C-level executives, research specialists, industry leads or others, depending on the opportunity. Members of the media aren’t going to want to talk to someone who is unable to answer questions that aren’t part of the talking points. They want to know that they are talking to someone who can speak intelligently about a subject. So, identify your subject matter experts and the places where they have both experience and expertise. Then, use them to take down the gorilla.
  4. Be bold. Many large companies have policies that limit what information they share with the press. They have limits on the level of executive they’ll put out in the public. You might be tempted to copy those policies, but don’t. Offer up your CEO to speak to the press. Offer financials or customer stories. You might be a smaller company, but being able to offer what the larger company can’t or won’t can make you appealing. Boldness sometimes requires baby steps. If you aren’t ready to make bold claims, start small. Maybe it’s a bold blog post. Or even a bold headline on a press release. Say what the other guys are thinking but are too cautious to say. Target your competitors by name. Eventually, this level of boldness will feel blasé, and you’ll be ready to take another step. Then another and another, until you’re out front of the 800-pound gorilla, and the press is calling you.
  5. Be nimble. The news cycles move fast. If you’re ready to respond to press inquiries and ready to pivot your story if that’s what they need, then you can find some quick wins against your industry’s leader. Enough quick wins, and you start building momentum. You might find yourself on a reporter’s contact list, becoming a regular fixture in the press. Bottom line: You beat those Company XXLs by being smarter. By telling an original story. By sharing things that others won’t. And ultimately, by making sure that everything you do is pointing to the same goal: victory.

Next up: Learn how Ben & Jerry’s used whimsy, authenticity and social purpose to punch up against the giants of the ice cream business.

(This post originally appeared on Forbes.com.)

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Advertising  / Public Relations
Idea Grove CEO Scott Baradell Announces Upcoming Book on Trust in Marketing
Idea Grove Posted On November 16, 2020


Scott Baradell, CEO of unified PR and marketing agency Idea Grove, has announced the planned publication of his first book, Trust Signals: The New PR.

Idea Grove ranks as one of the top 25 technology PR firms in the United States, according to industry trade publication O’Dwyer’s.

For more than 15 years, Scott has been a thought leader on the future of public relations. He created one of the original PR blogs, Media Orchard, which at one time had a larger audience than PRWeek. His focus in recent years has been on growing his agency by helping his technology clients grow.

In 2020, Scott began writing Trust Signals: The New PR, outlining a new framework for the practice of public relations, to be published by Lioncrest in 2021. Put simply, “trust signals” are evidence points, from media coverage and online reviews to website “trust badges” and other trust symbols, that make people believe in your brand. The book shares a new framework for PR centered on building and promoting trust.

Scott has an Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) from the PRSA and speaks on PR and marketing topics at industry events nationwide.


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Advertising  / Public Relations
Idea Grove Celebrates 15 Years of Public Relations Innovation, Looks Ahead to Future Growth
Idea Grove Posted On November 3, 2020


Idea Grove, a Dallas-based unified PR and marketing agency for B2B tech companies, is celebrating 15 years of innovation, industry leadership and growth. Founded by Scott Baradell, a journalist turned PR executive, Idea Grove launched in 2005 with the publication of Media Orchard, one of the industry’s first PR blogs. Since then Idea Grove has blossomed into an established leader, working with some of the world’s top B2B tech brands, ranking three times as an Inc. 5000 company and being named one of the top 25 tech PR agencies in the United States by O’Dwyer’s.

“Idea Grove has launched products that have become household names in B2B tech. We’ve helped tiny bootstrapped startups triumph in nine-figure exits. We’ve worked as valued partners with some of the most well-known and trusted names in technology,” Baradell said. “But what we’re most proud of are the bonds of friendship and mutual respect we’ve built with our clients and on our team along the way. Our magnum opus is the 15-year assemblage of little things we do to make an impact each day.”

Idea Grove’s agency philosophy is grounded in helping clients to not only build brand awareness, but to achieve lasting brand trust. Since its inception, Idea Grove has iterated continually on its trust-centered approach, infusing it across agency disciplines including brand strategy, public relations, web design, content marketing and HubSpot consulting.

Over the past year, Idea Grove has seen significant growth in its internal team and client base. In November 2019, John Lacy joined as president and COO to work alongside Baradell in enhancing the agency’s operational efficiency and scalability. In July 2020, Idea Grove expanded its leadership with David Reiter joining as vice president of client development and partnerships to help drive agency growth.

As American society began building a technology infrastructure to support the new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic, Idea Grove added several new clients in industries ranging from remote learning and webcasting to healthcare staffing and drone-based cleaning solutions. Idea Grove has been proud to partner with these B2B tech heroes in bringing new innovations to market to help sustain the economy during challenging times.

In 2021, Baradell will release a new book, Trust Signals: The New PR, outlining a new framework for the practice of public relations centered on building and promoting trust. Rooted in the e-commerce concept of “trust signals,” the book will explore practical steps marketers can take to ensure that customers believe in their brands.

“At a time when the public is less trusting than ever, companies are hungry for strategic guidance on how to inspire confidence with buyers and turn skeptical prospects into true believers,” Baradell said. “The past 15 years has been an exciting journey of learning, growth and evolution for Idea Grove. We look forward to applying our learnings on behalf of our clients in the months and years ahead.”

About Idea Grove
Since 2005, Idea Grove has distinguished itself as that rare agency that truly understands growth-oriented B2B technology companies and their buyers. Idea Grove’s unified PR and marketing service offering has been built from the ground up with the specific challenges of B2B tech in mind, including grasping complex technologies, maintaining momentum through long sales cycles, and influencing the decision-making of both business and IT buyers. Idea Grove can be reached at contact@ideagrove.com or 972.235.3439.

Source: PR Newsire


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